Changes
by brattax23
Summary: AU –Invincible Series. A teenage Scott, Remy and Ororo thrown together, living in New Orleans: Ororo goes through some changes. Please Review!


Title: Changes 

Author: Monica

Series: Invincible

Rating: PG

Summary: AU –A teenage Scott, Remy and Ororo thrown together, living in New  

  Orleans. Ororo goes through some changes.

Disclaimers: Characters are not mine, all Marvel's. Not making a dime.

A/N: Written in an hour with minimal revision, so I'm not sure how good this is. I'm also not sure where this goes in Invincible continuity. There is no attempt at mystery in this, please keep in mind.

            It all began because he didn't call. Ororo went into a sulk, and then into a rage. That's when the rain began to fall. She didn't even notice at first because she was so wrapped up in her own problems and worries. Scott looked outside and frowned. He could tell it was going to be one hell of a storm.

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            She gasped at the pain in her chest. The rain beat furiously against the glass as Ororo's heart beat faster and faster. The power had been knocked out by the first rain storm of the season, so she sat, alone, at home in the dark. The phone was dead, so she couldn't call for help. Scott went to drive Remy back from school, but in the torrents, she didn't expect them back for a while. And so she gasped for breath as the pain grew sharper and the noise inside her head got louder.

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            The lightning seemed to be flashing across the sky like clockwork. Every second a new branch would light up the sky while the thunder crashed to a furiously paced beat. Scott was driving slowly because all the street lights were out and the rain was running swiftly in the streets. Remy sat in the passenger seat bundled in jackets and blankets. He had been soaked clean through from running from the school to the car. At least the lightening let him see what was coming up. If only the rain would stop coming down in sheets, then he might be able to move faster.

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            Ororo was vaguely aware of the cold floor against her cheek. She felt the beating of her heart match the clashing of the thunder, the streaking of the lightening. She felt the rain pouring over the city like ice water through your body on the hottest of days. She lost herself in the beating, the humming, the crashing of life. The pain began to ebb away, but she felt that something changed. She hoped she didn't knock her head when she ended up on the ground. She felt so strange.

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            "It's never going to stop, is it?" Remy muttered, staring out of his window forlorn. 

            "I'm trying to get home, all right!" Scott was frustrated with the weather, frustrated with the idiots on the road, and frustrated that he couldn't do anything about it.

            Remy wasn't even paying attention. He just watched the rain pour down like the heavens sobbing. He took it as a bad omen. This was no way to start the spring. There was a tingling in the tips of his fingers. That was never a good sign.

            Ororo forced herself to stand. She hobbled over to the window by the couch and stared out into the storm. The treetops bowed to the wind. The ground was beaten by the rain. The power of nature was amazing to behold. She took a breath, and was relieved that it came easier. The vice around her chest had loosened, finally. She turned away from the window to make herself a cup of tea to calm down.

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            The thunder stopped pounding. It wasn't until then that Scott realized that he had a headache on top of everything else. While he was thankful that the thunder and lightening had ceased, he wished he had more light. Luckily, he was only five minutes away from home. Of course, being next to the swamp, that means that it'll take another ten. Remy was muttering under his breath.

            "What?" Scott said, distracted. A large tree branch washed in front of him. He thought it was an animal.

            "Jus' prayin' t' get home one of t'ese days," Remy said. His face was white as Scott swerved off the road. He closed his eyes again. Better not to see what was going on.

            Scott chose to ignore him. It was hard enough driving without letting pessimism interfere.

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            Her head began to clear. She found the last chocolate chip muffin and indulged. Ororo gave her first smile.

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            They were at the end of their "block" when the rain thinned. It seemed to happen in seconds. One minute a wall of water was barring their passage, and the next the wall came crumbling down. A light drizzle seemed an opaque curtain, certainly easy to get through. Scott let out the pent out breath he didn't know he held. Beside him, Remy did the same. The clouds changed from ominous black to an indifferent grey. It was so sudden that he didn't know what to make of it. Not one to question good fortune, Scott didn't waste any time driving the last few meters to the house.

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            Ororo looked up as the door opened. She had moved back to the window and was gazing out, confused. Wasn't it just storming a minute ago? Now the clouds seemed to be thinning and the rain had stopped. It was the strangest thing she had seen. She felt calm now that the pain had disappeared and the boys arrived safe.

            "Hi, 'Ro, we made it finally." Scott said, still peering outside, perplexed.

            "That's good. Remy, you better go change before you catch a cold." He wasn't staring outside like Scott was. He was staring at her.

            "Y' okay, 'Ro?" He was looking at her carefully.

            "Yes. Why wouldn't I?"

            "Y'r eyes look red. And I had the weirdes' feeling." His eyes pinned her. She began to feel a bit uneasy. Outside, the wind began to pick up.

            "Me too. I could have sworn that the storm…I mean, I felt the rain…No, I mean the thunder and the lightening was beating with me."

            Scott turned to stare at her, too. The wind blew more wildly.

            "I know it sounds strange, but I think I felt the storm." There, she said it. And it didn't sound all that bad.

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            They didn't say a word while they ate dinner. Or while they cleaned up. But Remy could bear it no more.

            "So…What's the weather going t' be t'morrow, Stormy?" he grinned as he dodged the plastic cup she threw at him. And the plate. And the spatula.

            "I predict a rain cloud to hang over your head. With lightening to zap some sense into you." She fixed a smile on her face as she dragged herself to her room to get ready for bed. Then her face fell. How could she tell them the truth? That with a thought she could change the local forecast so that summer and winter swap?

            "'Ro? Are you sure you're okay?" Scott stood against the door. She looked up at him pitifully. He moved to sit beside her and held her shaking frame tightly. He remembered all the times in the past where he held her to make everything better or she soothed away his fears. They fit comfortably into the roles they, and everyone else, have played for years. "What's wrong, 'Ro?"

            "I'm a freak!" she cried, feeling as though she should be out of tears.

            "No, you're not. I read about this type of thing in school. You're a mutant."

            "But I don't want to be a mutant." Yes, she sounded about three years old. It had been a long day.

            "Everything is going to be fine. Trust me." 

Ororo looked up into his face. She saw the same old Scott that she'd known all her life. He looked at her the same way he always did when she was crying all over him. She decided to trust him once again.

A/N2: Keeping with Invincible tradition, pretty sappy. I need a break from complexity. Please review! I need reviews to keep sane and happy (rather than insane and happy or sane and unhappy) Thanks!!! J


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